[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 156 (Saturday, November 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REBUILDING AMERICAN SCHOOLS ACT OF 1997

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                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 1997

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, we simply cannot ignore the needs of our 
students any longer when it comes to the poor physical condition of our 
schools. We can see that many schools throughout America need 
assistance in continuing to educate our children.
  We cannot allow our schools to continue with inadequate buildings, 
inadequate building features, and unsatisfactory building conditions. 
We can't sit by and watch our schools crumble. Congress needs to 
recognize that the quality of their learning environment affects the 
education children receive.
  Our children need a strong foundation--better physical conditions--in 
the schools they attend. In some parts of the country the problems 
facing our schools' infrastructure have reached crisis proportions. 
Poor infrastructure is often a barrier to schools being wired to the 
Internet among other things.
  We need the proper school facilities to deal with the surge of 
enrollment that is occurring right now. In the next 10 years, many 
school districts will have to cope with the need for more space to 
accommodate 55.9 million students, a jump of 9.4 million since 1990. 
New Jersey public elementary and secondary schools will see an increase 
of 109,000 students in the next 10 years, requiring 4,360 additional 
classrooms.
  For all these reasons, I have introduced the Rebuilding American 
Schools Act of 1997, with Representative Rob Andrews. This legislation 
will assist local school districts finance the repair, renovation, 
alteration, and construction of public elementary and secondary school 
facilities.
  A General Accounting Office report last year drew alarms in Congress 
about the need to repair and upgrade school facilities across the 
country. The GAO study stated that one-third of schools, serving over 
14 million students nationwide, reported needing extensive repair or 
replacement of at least one building and 60 percent of schools, many in 
otherwise decent condition, reported at least one major building 
feature, such as plumbing, in disrepair. In addition, about half the 
schools reported at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition, 
such as lighting problems or poor ventilation.
  According to the GAO, 19 percent of New Jersey schools reported one 
inadequate building, 53 percent reported at least one inadequate 
building feature, and 69 percent reported at least one unsatisfactory 
environmental factor. In total, 87 percent of New Jersey schools 
reported a need to upgrade or repair buildings to good overall 
condition.
  Local schools rely on property taxes to support our country's public 
elementary and secondary schools. But communities everywhere are 
finding it increasingly difficult to support their academic programs 
much less their school facilities with local property taxes. The 
Rebuilding American Schools Act of 1997 would help communities support 
the repair, renovation, alteration, and construction of our Nation's 
public elementary and secondary school facilities. States and local 
governments would continue to maintain full responsibility for 
determining their school construction needs and administering their 
infrastructure programs.
  This legislation authorizes $200 million in fiscal year 1999 to help 
States increase school construction and renovation targeting school 
districts that enroll the greatest numbers of children living in 
poverty. The loans and bond guarantees in the bill will apply to a wide 
range of improvement projects.
  It leverages additional spending on school construction and 
renovation. And it applies to a wide range of improvement projects, 
including construction of elementary and secondary facilities, 
renovation to ensure health and safety of students, improvements of the 
basic infrastructure, increases in energy efficiency, and construction 
that prepares facilities for installation of modern educational 
technology.
  This bill goes a long way to providing the proper infrastructural our 
children need to enter the 21st century. While many of the most 
desperate repairs and needed improvements are being met, these funds 
could help our schools meet additional needs. I look forward to the day 
when I can see the physical manifestation of this bill in better 
facilities for our children to learn and grow.

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